Feeding means foe ticket issuing



Aug. 17, 1954 s. M. DIXON ETAL FEEDING MEANS FOR TICKET ISSUING MACHINES Filed April 11, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 i 3 A 17, 1954 s. M. DIXON EI'AL 2,685,570 FEEDING MEANS FOR TICKET ISSUING MACHINES Filed April 11. 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 MR'QW Patented Aug. 17, 1954 FEEDING MEANS FOR TICKET ISSUING MACHINES Stanley Mark Dixon and Harold John Michael Gibbs, Kings Cross, London, England, assignors to Westinghouse Garrard Ticket Machines Limited, London, England Application Aprilll, 1950, Serial No. 155,153

Claims priority, application Great Britain May 3, 1949 2 Claims.

This'in'vention relates to ticket issuing chines of the kind inwhich a strip of paper or thinrcard upcnwhich the information to be recorded upon each ticket is printed, is fed through the machine by being gripped between one. or more pairs of rotatable rollers, termed transport rollers, any or all of which may be provided with type so that the information is printed on the strip as it is being fed through the machine, lengths of the printed. stripcorresponding to individual tickets being perforated or severed by an automatically operated. knife of the guil lotine type as it: issues from the machine.

In such machines there is a space between the final pair of transport rollers and the knife, usual-- ly of suificient length to accommodate one complete ticket. if the strip should be impeded as it issues from the machine, for example, by the hand of a purchaser of the ticket, the strip may buckle in the space between the final pair transport rollers and the knife, with the result that the machine becomes jammed.

According to the invention in a machine of the above kind two parallel spaced superposed members are arranged to form a restricted passage between the final pair of transport rollers and the knife, at least one of the members having pivotally mounted at its end a finger which is biassed to form between the rollers a flared entrance to the passage and which is rotated about its pivot by the entrance of the ticket strip into the passage so that the fiared entrance is converted into a continuation of the passage.

By restricted passage is meant a passage of such dimensions that the strip is unable to buckle within it.

Preferably the end of the passage extending between the rollers is formed by one or more pairs of projecting fingers at least one of each pair projecting into a circumferential groove provided in the surface of one of the rollers, while the other of each pair is pivotally mounted in such a manner as to be rotated about its pivot by the entrance of the ticket strip into the passage whereby the flared entrance to the passage formed by each pair of fingers is converted into a continuation of said passage. both of the fingers in each pair may be pivotally mounted on the parallel spaced superposed membars.

The invention is illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawings of which Figure 1 is a part sectional view, in somewhat diagrammatic form, of the delivery mechanism of a ticket printing and issuing machine embody- Alternatively 2 ing the invention, the section being taken along the line BB of Figure2; and

Figur 2 is a view along the line AA of Figure 1.

Fig. 3 shows a-portion of Fig. 2 on an enlarged scale.

Referring now to the drawings, a final pair of transport rollers I, 2 are mounted vertically one above the other, the axes about which they rotate being horizontal and parallel with each other.

The upper roller I, carries the necessary type wheels (not shown) mounted between a pair of side checks 3, 4 (Figure 2) provided with journals 5, 6, for rotatably supporting the roller in suitable bearings inbrackets I, 8. The lower roller 2 is mounted on journals 2|, 22 which rotate in suitable bearings in brackets l, 8. Mounted in fixed relation to the rollers l, 2 are gears 23, 24 which are in constant mesh and through which the rollers are driven from a co-operating gear (notshown) in the machine. The roller 2 carries no type but has a portion 9 of enlarged diameter which, when the rollers are rotated, grips the ticket strip between itself and the type carried by roller I, thus enabling information, such as the date, to be printed upon the strip while, at the same time, carrying the strip forward to the knife H) which severs a ticket from the strip at the end of the operation.

Between th two rollers and the knife is a space sufficient in length to accomodate one complete ticket length of strip. Two brackets II, l2 substantially L-shaped, are mounted in this space, each with one limb horizontal and parallel with each other and spaced apart vertically by a distance only slightly greater than the thickness of the strip, thus providing a kind of horizontal slot 13 which forms a restricted passage through which the strip is passed and in which its vertical movement is so restrained that it is pre vented from buckling.

The length of horizontal limbs of the brackets is such that they extend from the knife to a position as close as is practicable to the rollers. In order to extend the restricted passage as far as possible into the space between the two rollers themselves, and thus to control the movement of the strip over as much as possible of the critical distanc between the rollers and. the knife, pairs of projecting fingers I 4, l5 are mounted at the ends of the horizontal limbs of the brackets. The fingers I4 on the lower limb are fixed thereto and extend from it horizontally, their free ends being accommodated one in a circumferential groove l6 provided in the lower roller for that purpose and the other between the roller 2 and the bracket 8. These ends are chamfered to as sist in guiding the end of a newly fitted strip into the restricted passage.

The fingers l5 on the upper bracket are pivoted so as to be rotatable about a horizontal pivot [7. These fingers are pawl shaped and so mounted that, with the machine at rest and with no strip in the restricted passage, the nose of the pawl rests against a flat or cut away portion iii of the upper roller I and is biased to this position by its own weight or by any other suit able method, for example, a spring. In this posi tion the finger presents an inclined surface 9 to the end of an oncoming strip forming a flared opening to guide the end of the-strip into the restricted passage. A corner 20 of the finger l5 projects into the restricted passage 3 such a way that it is struck and lifted by the entering strip causing the finger 15 to rotate and bring the inclined surface horizontal, as in the position indicated by broken lines, thus forming, with V the finger M, a continuation of the restricted passag which accordingly then extends well into the space between the two rollers.

It is to be understood that both fingers may be pivotally mounted and function as described above.

The final pair of transport rollers may be made slightly less in length than the width of the strip, the fingers may then be mounted so that they extend either side of the rollers while still receiving the strip between them. This arrangement obviates the necessity for cutting a groove in ither roller, or otherwise shaping them to receive the fingers.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim is:

1. In a ticket issuing machine an arrangement for feeding a ticket strip and preventing its buckling, comprising a final pair of transport rollers; a pair of parallel spaced superposed members extending beyond said transport rollers and forming a restricted passage for the ticket strip; at least one finger pivotally mounted at th end of one of said members and biased so as to form a flared entrance to the passage; and on said finger a projection which is adapted to be moved by the entrance of the ticket strip into said passage to rotate th finger about its pivot so that the flared entrance is converted into a continuation of said passage.

2. In a ticket issuing machine an arrangement for feeding a ticket strip and preventing its buckling, comprising a first transport roller having a fiat cut-away portion formed therein; a second transport roller cooperating with said first roller, when rotated, to feed the ticket strip; first and second parallel spaced superposed members extending beyond said first and second transport rollers and forming a restricted passage for the ticket strip; and pivotally mounted at the end of said first member a biased first finger having a first part resting against said fiat cut-away portion of the first transport roller when said first transport roller is in a particular position, a second part forming a flared entrance to the passage, and a third part'which is moved by the entrance of the ticket strip into said passage to rotate the finger about its pivot so that the flared entrance is converted into a continuation of said passage.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 159,293 Anderson Feb. 2, 1875 736,329 Woodford Au 11, 1903 1,337,837 Gore Apr. 20, 1920 1,637,658 Rose Aug. 2, 1927 1,647,305 Peters Nov. 1, 1927 1,732,635 Chabot Oct. 22, 1929 1,732,636 Gautier et a1. Oct. 22, 1929 

